The brands that succeed here don’t win because they wave a flag. They win because they understand the people behind it.
BRANDS + MARKETERS
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The instinct from most marketing teams is to add more channels, more targeting, more impressions, purely for the sake of doing more.
As consumers become harder to impress and AI makes content easier than ever to produce, experiential marketing has become one of the few disciplines where brands cannot fake relevance. Every interaction is tested in real time, forcing marketers to create experiences that genuinely earn attention instead of simply buying it.
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AW SHORTS – BRANDS + MARKETERS
If 2025 was a year of change in the marketing world, 2026 will be even more transformative. We can anticipate significant leaps in AI, which will extend to creative decision-making, media targeting, and influencer marketing.
Your relationship goes beyond simply selling them a product. You want them to buy from you multiple times.
We’ve just launched our first-ever Holiday Sweepstakes, with ten grand prizes for ten small businesses in ten cities: $10,000 in IRL ad media, each.
As AI accelerates and marketing budgets tighten, creativity is thriving in chaos, but only when guided by clarity. The boldest ideas are coming from brands that turn evidence into conviction and use data to bring creative freedom.
Marketers cannot overlook top- and mid-funnel tactics if they want to make a real impact in peak shopping season.
Going viral is a sugar rush. Belonging builds enduring brand equity—the kind that keeps you relevant long after the spotlight fades.
Brands that invest in communities, foster dialogue across lines of difference, and tell honest stories don’t just earn attention—they earn loyalty.
The 2025 Go-to Brands List is a reminder that, even in a world obsessed with tech, trends, and transformation, the brands that win are the ones that make people feel seen, supported, and empowered.
Sustainability needs to taste simple, actionable, guilt-free, and unlock value pools that would be impossible to activate in a world pre-AI and pre-efficiency fever.
The future of influencer marketing isn’t transactional. It’s relational. And it starts with recognising that influencers are brand partners, not adverts.
If the deal sounds too good to be true, it’s probably because you’re paying for it somewhere you can’t see.
The future of growth belongs to the leaders, and the CMOs, who understand that visibility isn’t just exposure. It’s equity.
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